When Derek Lambie was appointed editor of the Scottish Sunday Express at the beginning of this month it realised one of his biggest ambitions.

But he is already proving he is not prepared to stop there.

At just 26 years old, the former Newsflash Scotland Press Agency reporter (below) is one of the youngest editors of a national newspaper.

And although he never expected to get this far so quickly, he is obviously enjoying it.

Derek said: "I never really think about it. You just have to knuckle down and do the best you can.

"I always said that my ambition was to be an editor and it's good to be doing it. It's hard work but it's what I've always wanted to do. Hopefully I can use my enthusiasm to make a difference.

"It's only been three weeks and it's gone so quickly, but I've not had a bad day so far - although I'm sure there will be some! Everyone has been fantastic."

Career-wise things have moved quickly for Derek, and less than five years ago he was still at university, editing the student newspaper.

After graduating from Stirling University in 1997 he got his first job as a reporter with Newsflash Scotland Press Agency, the largest freelance agency in Scotland.

He quickly moved up the ladder to become Bureau Chief, running one of the agency's three offices.

In April 2000 Derek joined the Scottish Daily Express as a reporter in the Glasgow office and a month later won the BT/Society of Editors Scottish Newcomer of the Year award.

The runner-up spot at BT's national final closely followed.

The following year he was enticed back to Newsflash to become head of news for the entire company, effectively running the biggest band of freelances in the UK.

Despite a number of other offers, Derek joined the Scottish Sunday Express as editor at the beginning of this month.

He said: "In the past three weeks alone we have trebled the number of Scottish stories and now have more Scotland content than rivals including the Scottish Mail on Sunday and the Scottish News of the World.

"We have a plan to continue increasing the Scottish content, and already it feels very much at home. Printing was moved to Glasgow at the start ofMarch, which has also allowed us to use more colour pages.

"It is all about competing with our competitors for the first time and trying to get a hold again. It is also about breaking stories before the other papers and already we are starting to do this.

"There is so much potential in Scotland for a good Scottish Sunday Express."

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